A wins a win whether it be 6-0, 4-3 or 1-0. It's also the same whether it's against Manchester United or Doncaster!
Well I never said that we needed to tighten up.I liked last season's style we looked like scoring all the while going forward and I was happy to accept the corollary of scarce clean sheets.My worry is that we can tighten the defence to a point but the likes of Arsenal,Man U &C,Chelsea etc will nearly always score at least once in 90 minutes.With those four teams last season we scored in six out of eight fixtures and that was magnificent. When it was two points for a win a draw was a great result,especially away from home.With the current scoring system you have to win games to survive.
we didn't beat any of them though, neither are we competing with those teams for league position. you are looking at this from all the wrong angles. everyone likes watching goals but there comes a point where that tactic becomes a drain on a club like norwich - there were signs of that towards the end of last season and as i've pointed out on other threads, all the small to medium size clubs who have had concerted success of staying in the top flight in the past fifteen years have done so based on solid defence - the teams who tried to score more goals than their opponents last two years at most. and, we have not lost any of our forward drive! we just aren't converting the chances. last year we were. had we not tightened up i doubt we'd even have a point yet!!
Last season we ended up with a -14 goal difference (52/66) If we translate that into a tightened up scenario it might end up 26/40,bear in mind it's -6 already.My guess is that any games we win this season will be either 1-0 or 2-1. If that is the case I can't see where you get enough points to survive.My observations were mathematically based rather than on football.
yes, but ignore the opening match - that was a freak result. i really don't get what you're trying to say. we have as much chance of winning games at the moment as we did last season. i'd like to think that had lambert stayed he'd have addressed our defensive issues so we may well have been having a similar conversation had he remained. no matter what you think it was obvious that we needed to improve defensively - why would you not concentrate on our obvious and most glaring weakness? our forwards, who are the same as last year simply need to be taking their chances, just as they did last year. it really is as simple as that. we are creating just as many chances as last season but if you don't take them then you need to be good at the back to make sure you don't get beaten when the goals dry up.
QPR - the penalty isn't given Spurs - Friedel isn't on fire, we get that penalty when Morison gets tugged West Ham - Jaaskalinen doesn't get to the Jackson strike, which was a very good rate, Harry Kane slots in late on Newcastle - Surman slots the one on one in, Mike Williamson isn't on the line for Snodgrass header. It just proves its all very small margins, i think that's proof we're not a million miles off. I honestly think we'll be okay.
I'd like to see more shots from distance, as occasionally the keeper may get something on it and it rebounds, so gives the opportunity of a fairly simple goal.
JR i agree, i also think Snodgrass, Fox, Howson, Butterfield, Pilkington, Bennett, Tettey, Wes are all capable of a decent strike outside area, sometimes we don't try it enough. And of course Bradley Johnson
listen, I said in the OT that there were plenty of positives. im not panicing. like I said it was just a bit dull. yeah we could have scored 6 or 7 but the chances were spread between 90mins or a relatively dull game. It just seemed too easy and I thought that with players fighting for potential first team places we might have upped the tempo a touch and really had a go at them. think perhaps the OT was taken out of context. yeah there were a couple of moans but its not like I was blasting the team. it was just easy thats all and that made it a little dull. Of course im happy we won, that weve a chance v spurs and that (as I said earlier) the new and injured faces looked decent.
Well, lots to think about from last night Firstly, Harry Kane getting injured is a bit guttering, haven't seen an update yet so hopefully it's not as bad as first thought. Secondly, tettey, looks a player. I'd play him Saturday crucially WITH hoolahan, tettey to provide the strength and space for hoolahan to do his job Thirdly, benno, seriously becoming one of my favourite players and how good is it we have him as versatility as an excellent full back. Id play him on the right wing Saturday but I'm unsure of pilks latest status. Fourthly, my dilemma over Saturdays selection is whether to have howson with hoolahan off holt or drop howson and have Jackson up front with holt. It's very tricky. But definitely play hoolahan, that's the key. Overall a match that answered some questions and threw up a few more.
Only listening to CanaryWorld doesn't necessarily give a fair reflection on the game. What I want to know is how Tettey played. Did he play the protector role or were the opposition pinned back so he didn't need to? Its just after last seasons Liverpool game, I would have thought someone to put the initial taclke in on Suarez might be useful. I'm not too worried about anyone else they might have playing to be honest. They are like us to be fair, creating but not converting.
Bare in mind that at the last time we played to Liverpool, we had Ryan Bennett and Elliott Ward at CB and these were our only fit CBs (Actually maybe Barnett was ok). If Bassong is fit, then we have the luxury of playing pretty much our first XI. Meanwhile Liverpool have already lost a few players to injuries and suspensions.
Whilst they rarely threatened our goal, what hasn't been said was how organised Doncaster were at getting back in numbers and crowding their area last night. Our biggest problem was hesitation. We broke and got forward many times, but hesitation allowed the Doncaster defence to get back and get organised. Personally, I'm not worried about the lack of goals yet. As well as being better defensively, our midfield is the strongest and most aggressive I can remember. Snodgrass, Butterfield, Hoolahoops, Howson, Fox, Pilks .... They all love hunting in a pack and having a shot. All we need is some understanding and some slick moves between midfield and attack, and then we'll all be chirpy.
tettey played a rather box to box role without actually making it into either box. when we had the ball he pushed up to sit outside their area and when they got it he immediately dropped infront of our back 4. He played well making some clever interceptions, vital tackles when tracking and he scored with a very good strike. I think against better opposition he would have more to do but he seems to have.a good engine. our boss has a real headache in the midfield department! I think butterfield wants to play more central as last night he was meant to be on the right but kept drifting into the hole. he looked good when he did as well. As much as I like R.Martin, E.Bennett was very good at right back and provides us with good pace going both forward and back.
